


Partners

by Lucy112235



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Conflicted Emotions, I'm Satan, I'm Sorry, I'm evil, Multi, READ: eva is conflicted, deadly ring toss, electric chairs, eva is sad, they are all sad, twisted partner challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 19:57:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20102773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucy112235/pseuds/Lucy112235
Summary: In which in s1 ep 9, "partners" takes on a completely different definition. An Escape the Night one-shot.Or, in other words, I am evil.





	Partners

**Author's Note:**

> My people, be prepared for some aNGST because I was feeling angsty and I love making my favorite characters suffer because I am evil
> 
> So, I guess, enjoy. It's hard to enjoy it, honestly.

The key from the mask comes with  _ another  _ note. Oli internally groans.

Joey picks up the note. Oli, Eva, and Lele crowd around as he begins to read.

_ “The final hallucination is buried in the darkest part of Vincent’s psyche. Unlike the others, the consequence for failure is now pain and death,”  _ the Savant reads. Oli nearly facepalms.  _ More  _ pain and death? You would’ve thought that the universe would give them a break. Joey audibly becomes more exasperated and he sighs.  _ “Two of you must be selected by vote to sit in the chairs of a madman. Then, those two must select a partner of the opposite gender to aid them. You will find the hallucination waiting for you in the basement.” _

Oli rolls his head back. He’s so sick of pain and death, and he’s seen so much of it, you’d think he’d be immune. But no. He had a 50% chance of dying in the next hour. Great.

“I don’t want to choose anyone,” Joey says quietly, his eyes dull. The energy in the group is at an all-time low, and it’s taking a toll on Oli’s friends.

“You know what?” Lele pipes up, still as fiery as ever, but in a different way. “I don’t have anything against you guys. I’m going to vote for myself.”

“What?” Oli says.  _ Voting for ourselves? Can we even do that? _

“You heard me.”

As much as Oli is wary of it, he knows it’s the right thing. They’ve come this far together. They can’t turn on each other now. They  _ all  _ deserve to be here. Eva, with her brains. Lele, with her fire. Joey, the heart and soul of the group. 

It was dangerous. But it was the right thing to do.

Joey seems to agree. “What if we all put our own name in and… we just…”

“Let the house vote,” Lele finishes.

Oli nods, however fearful he really was. “Yeah.”

“I like that,” Eva smiles.

Lele squeezes her own hand as Arthur draws the first slip. She knows it’s the morally right thing to do, and after all, she was the one who suggested it, but she can’t shake the feeling that she’s almost putting a gun to her own head. 

_ You set yourself up to die. You’re going to die in that chair. You’re- _

_ Shut up! _

She brushes away her own nagging as Arthur raises the slip to his reading level.

“Lele.”

_ Motherf- _

She knew it. She freaking  _ knew  _ it. And “chairs of a madman”? What the hell does  _ that  _ mean?

Memories of the Ungodly Machine flood her broken mind.

“I hate that basement.”

_ Dammit. _

Eva’s staring at her hands, cursing this cursed house. Lele’s going into the final challenge.  _ Lele.  _ And she can’t save her.

So as Arthur draws the second slip, Eva  _ prays  _ it’s Joey. She likes Joey. He’s her friend. But Oli… Oli’s the voice of reason. The sane one. The one who keeps  _ her  _ sane. She can’t lose him. And obviously she doesn’t want to sit in the “chair of a madman”.

Arthur pulls up the piece of paper. Eva’s heart races.

“Oli.”

_ Dammit. God freakin’ dammit.  _

Lele and Oli. The two people she promised herself she will get out alive. In the challenge. And one of them is going to die.

_ Oh my god… _

The realization sinks in that she’s Oli’s partner. She will have to fight to save Oli… but that will mean  _ killing Lele.  _ It makes her sick.

For a moment, she thinks about forfeiting the challenge, put pushes it away. She can’t save Lele. But she might be able to save Oli. 

No. She  _ has  _ to save him.

Lele gulps. “So now we have to choose an opposite-sex-”

“Yes,” Arthur retorts. “Pick a partner.” Eva wants to punch him in the face for not caring at  _ all  _ that another one of her friends is going to die, but refrains.

“Obviously I choose…” Lele sounds like she’s about to sigh, but holds it back. “...Joey.” Lele’s voice drops a couple octaves. She seems audibly disappointed.

Fortunately, Joey doesn’t notice, and is his usual playful self. “Well, I’d  _ think _ that I was a boy. So thank you for choosing me.”

Lele gives a little laugh. 

“Guys…” Oli stammers, and it seems like he’s trying to regain control over his voice. “I’m just gonna say… whatever happens… you know… you’ve been good.”

The walk down to the basement. Everyone walks noticeably slower, as if something’s about to pop out at them at any moment. On the way down, Eva puts her hand on Oli’s shoulder, and he responds by taking her other hand and squeezing it. She whispers in his ear, too quiet for anyone else to hear.

“I’ll get you out of here, okay?” Eva squeezes his hand back. “I promise.”

He simply nods and squeezes her hand one more time.

Despite Eva’s reassurance, more fear is running through Oli’s veins than anytime before. His life is in her hands, and however capable he believes her to be, maybe Joey’s smarter than he looks. He’s made it this far, anyway.

As they walk into the room, his blood turns to ice. Lele gasps. A pair of electric chairs stare back at them, almost glaring the four down. He shudders as Eva notices their customary note and begins to read. 

_ “My name is Dr. Price, and I have developed a unique treatment for overcoming hallucinations,”  _ Oli’s mind races on what “treatment” means to whatever psychopath it is this time. _ “Each voted-for guest needs to take a seat in their respective learning chair. Their partner must then lock them into the chair by securing the straps. Located across from the learning chairs are crates containing metal rings. Each of you must stand across from your partner, behind the chalk mark on the floor, and toss the rings into the five electrical rods. Missed rings will give their partner a little shock. You must get three rings around the rod. However, hallucinations affect even those you trust, and some information already told to you may not be compatible with the truth. Understand, the first guest to have three rings around any of the electrical rods will complete the circuit and cure the opposite partner's hallucinations...”  _ Eva’s voice pitches and quickens. Oli holds in a scream.  _ What, now? “...giving their own partner a severe shock, which will end their life.” _

Cue gasps from the group. Oli’s blood runs faster, his heart rate quickening so much that he thinks he was going to short-circuit  _ himself  _ to death.

“Wait,  _ what?”  _ Lele’s mouth’s agape.

“So, we have to  _ kill  _ our partner?” Joey’s holding Lele’s arm like his life depended on it. “What the hell? The note before did not say  _ that!” _

“I… I don’t…” Eva stammers. “So… so we’re supposed to just fight for someone to die? How are we supposed to do that?”

Oli wants to run away screaming, but he maintains some level of composure. “Guys… we don’t really have a choice,” the words feel heavy on his lips. “It’s the same thing, just we’re fighting for the opposite person to live.”

He looks over at Joey. The Savant’s face screams that he would much prefer to fight for Lele, but he puts up a smile. Oli isn’t too thrilled, either. Joey’s great. He’s his friend. But  _ Eva…  _ not only does her know her more and have a stronger bond with her, but she’s got a pretty good reputation. Saving Lele, solving all the puzzles and riddles coming her way, surviving Russian Roulette… while Joey… Joey’s killed GloZell, swam a few laps, and got them all tangled up in this mess. As much as Oli wants to stay optimistic, the odds aren’t in his favor.

Eva reluctantly continues to read.  _ “You have thirty minutes before the chairs short-circuit on their own, killing both guests. The timer will start as soon as both guests are securely fastened into their chairs.” _

_ “I’ll get you out of here, okay?” She squeezed his hand back. “I promise.” _

Eva’s own words flood her mind as she secures the straps around his arms. She stops tears from welling in her eyes as silence reigns over the two. He’s looking at her, but she won’t meet his gaze.

“I’m sorry,” she eventually chokes out. 

“Don’t be,” Oli whispers. She pauses for a moment to finally look at him. “It’s not your fault.”

“I just… I can’t kill you.”

“You won’t,” he responds. “You’re just saving Lele. Okay? Don’t think about me. I’ll be fine.” She nods sadly once more. 

_ I have to. I have to save Lele. I did it once. I can do it again. _

Hell, her best friend has been through enough. The least Eva can do is save her.

So she ignores her own pain and impending guilt as she secures the final strap on his arm. The Journalist steps back, behind the white line at the same time Joey does, and the timer starts. 

She throws, and misses by a good six inches. Oli screams, and she pushes what she has to do to him to do the back of her mind.

For once, Lele feels a little confident.

Sure, Joey’s great and all, but  _ Eva?  _ Eva’s the genius, the Russian Roulette survivor, her best friend with a knack for getting them out of tricky situations. Eva saved her life once. She could do it again. 

So even though every time Joey misses her rod, she gets shocked and  _ god does it hurt-  _ it’s better than him getting a ringer. If he gets three of those, she’s dead. So it’s a mind game, going back and forth between Joey and Eva and Joey and Eva combined with the indescribable pain that is the “little shocks” whenever Joey misses. 

Another miss, and Eva still hasn’t gotten one.

“Eva,  _ please!”  _ she yells.  _ “Come on!” _

Another missed ring from Joey, and she screams again because it  _ hurts it hurts please stop  _ _ oh dios duele por favor dios ayuda a hacer que pare- _

“Lele!” Eva yells. “I got one!”

“You did?!” the Hustler shrieks. Besides herself, she screams again, because Joey’s trying even harder to save Oli, to…  _ kill her. _

Joey, who promised her that he would get her out alive. Who defended her. Kill her?

He misses again. And it hurts. So. Much.

Joey’s trying to ignore the fact that he’s about to kill Lele Pons.

Sure, he likes Oli and all. He’s his friend. A nice guy. He doesn’t deserve to die.

But Lele- Lele was… she needed to live. He  _ promised  _ her that she would live. He couldn’t keep his promise to Justine, but he needed to do it for Lele.

But… he can’t.

As much as he hates himself for it, it’s his duty to make sure that Oli gets out of that chair alive. 

So he’s completely helpless as he watches Lele scream in agony as he continues to throw missed rings.

_ You got this. You have to save Oli. You cannot miss this. _

Joey throws once again, and it’s a ringer. Oli cheers.

“Come on Joey, you  _ got this!”  _ He shouts. 

It’s a mind game, really. Which would make sense for a hallucinations challenge, but that doesn’t make it any better. 

Oli’s praying that Eva doesn’t get rings around the rod in front of him, but at the same time, it hurts  _ so much  _ when she doesn’t. It’s almost a relief when it’s not a ringer, besides the unbearable pain. 

She misses.

He screams louder than he ever has before.  _ Oh god make it stop it hurts it hurts it hurts please Joey- _

“I got another one!” The silver-haired Savant nearly shrieks. “I did it!”

Oli yells an inaudible string of words back at him and prays that it’s enough.

Lele’s freaking out. They’re behind, behind  _ Joey Graceffa,  _ against all odds, and she’s screaming at Eva some combination of encouragement and pleads and anything in between as Joey continues to miss. Lele shuts her eyes and squeezes them in an effort to reject the pain that overwhelms her. But she can’t help it as another ring misses, letting another scream come out of her.

“Lele! I have two now!”

The Hustler opens her eyes for a moment to see Eva smiling at her, and she yells another chorus of  _ please save me you can do this come on I don’t want to die here please save me Eva- _ as both Joey and Eva continue to throw.

Both Lele and Oli have tears streaming down their faces, and Eva’s close to crying herself.

On one hand, if she gets this last ring, she’ll save Lele and fulfill her duty. On the other hand, if she gets this last ring, she’ll  _ kill  _ Oli. She’ll be killing another human being.

But Lele’s screams are just enough to power her forward as she continues to throw.

_ “Please, Eva, Please!”  _ Lele’s pleading. “I can’t take any more of this!”

Oli’s screaming similar things at Joey. Eva lines up her final shot, her heart twisting itself into a knot.

_ I’m sorry, Oli. _

She throws, and it’s a ringer.

Eva got her third ring.

Oli’s brain is trying to process what that means as he looks up at her for a split second, and she looks as if she’s close to crying, and her hand is still outstretched. 

But soon, that moment is over, and a loud buzzing sound fills the room, and a guillotine of electricity attacks his body. He’s screaming because it hurts  _ so much,  _ and it feels like his skin is on fire and living hell seems to be devouring him alive as he convulses from the agony feasting on him. It becomes too much to bear as names he can’t match to faces speed across his mind, and he wishes he was dead. Soon, his own body gives in, and death comes as a relief.

“No!” Joey yells, and he collapses on the floor, exhaustion overwhelming him. The young man seems more impacted by his own failure than by Oli’s death, but maybe that’s just her interpretation.

Eva’s surprisingly quiet, instead, her hand was still outstretched from throwing the last ring. Tears welled up in her eyes as she falls to her knees, tears slowly streaming down her golden cheeks. 

Joey walks up to Lele and quickly undoes her binds. He hugs her, and besides herself, she hugs him back.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. Even though he tried to kill her, Lele finds herself forgiving him.

“It’s okay,” she whispers. “Don’t mention it.”

As soon as Lele is out of her chair, she walks up to Eva and kneels down next to her, soon wrapping her arms around the other girl. Eva hugs her back and cries into her shoulder.

No one says anything for a long while. The two girls hold each other and cry, both for different reasons, but similar nonetheless. Lele cries for Shane, for Andrea, for Justine, for GloZell, for Sierra, for Tim, for Eva and Joey and herself, even for Matt. He might’ve been a no-good pervy douchebag, but she doesn’t have the energy to hate him anymore.

But most of all, she cries for Oli White, who was the glue who kept them all together, the one with a heart of gold who would do anything for his friends. 

So the three YouTubers sit in that basement for a long while, a puzzle without one piece, and hold on to the hope that they might keep his memory alive, long past this nightmare’s conclusion.

**Author's Note:**

> LELE MY CHILD. OLI MY CINNAMON ROLL. EVA THE LOVE OF MY LIFE. ELI MY EVERYTHING.
> 
> I AM SO SORRY.
> 
> also, this is not great, I know. But I guess I love writing crappy one-shots where all my babies suffer.


End file.
